Life on Planet Earth on Lions

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Running Towards the Lion

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Lions have an especially pernicious way of hunting their prey. It seems that they terrorize their victims into making the worst possible choice about how to protect themselves from being eaten. The hu...

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Aslan Comes and Goes

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 147:5, Jeremiah 10:12, Isaiah 55:8-9, Psalm 104:24, Job 38:4-7

“He’ll be coming and going” he had said. “One day you’ll see him and another you won’t. He doesn’t like being tied down–and of course he has other countries to attend to. It’s quite all right. He’ll o...

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Author

Leonard Ravenhill

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Apathy

Many of us are hunting mice - while lions devour the land.

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Author

Iain Duguid

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Scripture

2 Corinthians 11:14, Matthew 4:1-11, Matthew 16:23

We often forget that temptation can come from any quarter, even from within our own family circle. We expect the Devil to assault us like a roaring lion, as ugly and fearsome as can be. We don’t expec...

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The Embodiment of their Hopes

Author

Alan Jacobs

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Scripture

Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 40:29-31, Romans 8:37, Hebrews 12:1-2, Philippians 4:13, Psalm 31:24, 1 Timothy 6:12

I have been reading Julian Jackson’s biography of Charles de Gaulle — it’s exceptional, so far — and I find myself meditating on a story Jackson tells near the beginning of the book. In June of 1940, ...

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The Gorilla & The Lion

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

A man who is desperate for work applies to a zoo that he’s heard has some openings. “Well, it’s a little unusual, but I do have something,” said the zoo director. “Our gorilla died sometime ago, and w...

liturgy

Adapted from Psalm 34

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 34:null

Leader: Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed are those who take refuge in God. People: Fear the Lord, you God’s holy people, For those who fear God lack nothing. Leader: The lions may g...

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Author

Macarius

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The heart itself is but a small vessel, yet dragons are there, and there are also lions; there are poisonous beasts and all the treasures of evil. But there too is God, the angels, the life and the ki...

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Author

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

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Some Christians try to go to heaven alone, in solitude. But believers are not compared to bears or lions or other animals that wander alone. Those who belong to Christ are sheep in this respect, that ...

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Adapted from Psalm 34 (Inclusive)

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 34:8-10, Psalm 34:18

Leader: Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed are those who take refuge in him! People: Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! Leader: The young lions s...

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Are Churches Like Zoos?

Author

Mark Batterson

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A decade ago I spent an unforgettable week in the Galapagos Islands. This archipelago of islands off the coast of Ecuador hasn’t changed much since Charles Darwin sailed there on the HMS Beagle in Dec...

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Are Churches Like Zoos?

Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

Adventure

A decade ago I spent an unforgettable week in the Galapagos Islands. This archipelago of islands off the coast of Ecuador hasn’t changed much since Charles Darwin sailed there on the HMS Beagle in Dec...

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Author

Matt Chandler

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Courage

The church before Christendom was made up of individuals who had a courage that could not be quenched by the fires nor torn apart by the lions. It was made up of ordinary people who together unleashed...

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You Will Get Through This: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Crises

Scripture

Exodus 14:22, Deuteronomy 29:5, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 77:19, Isaiah 43:2

You fear you won’t. We all do. We fear that the depression will never lift, the yelling will never stop, the pain will never leave…We wonder: Will this gray sky ever brighten ? This load ever lighten...

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Groupthink & a Mining Accident

Author

Gregg A. Ten Elshof

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To be sure, groups, when they are functioning well, can be among our best defenses against vicious self-deception. But when group thinking is replaced by what psychologists call “groupthink,” results ...

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Like a Sleeping Bat

Author

Flannery O'Connor

Keywords

Deception

In The Violent Bear It Away, Flannery O’Connor’s character Tarwater works hard not to think about his lost faith. But ultimately, we can only lie to ourselves for so long before we acknowledge the tru...

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The Hedge of Protection: Slow Growing, Easily Jumped, Not Nearly Enough Protection for these Crazy Times

Author

Jon Acuff

Keywords

I think the uber-popular Christian prayer request for a “hedge of protection” is in the Bible, but I’m not sure. It sounds like something David would have written in the book of Psalms. He is very poe...

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You’ll Get Through This

Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 14:22, Deuteronomy 29:5, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 77:19, Isaiah 43:2, Daniel 6:22, Acts 12:7

You fear you won’t. We all do. We fear that the depression will never lift, the yelling will never stop, the pain will never leave…We wonder: Will this gray sky ever brighten ? This load ever lighten...

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Getting to Do the Things She Loves

Author

Chris Spielman

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 3:20-21, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 2 Corinthians 5:1-2, Revelation 21:4, Isaiah 40:31, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

Chris Spielman was at one time a paragon of athletic performance. A two-time All-American Linebacker at Ohio State University, and later three-time all pro for the Detroit Lions, Spielman knew what it...

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Hunting an Antelope or a Field Mouse?

Author

James Carville

Keywords

A lion is fully capable of capturing, killing, and eating a field mouse. But it turns out that the energy required to do so exceeds the caloric content of the mouse itself. So a lion that spent its...

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God’s Menagerie of Beautiful Creatures

Author

John Eldredge

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 96:11-12, Revelation 21:1, Romans 8:21, Isaiah 65:17, Psalm 148:7-10, Job 38:7, Genesis 1:31

We were in London watching the musical The Lion King. Surely you’ve seen the movie; the opening number is worth watching again this week to help your imagination seize the new earth with both hands. A...

liturgy

Adapted from Isaiah 65:17-25

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 65:17-25

The Lord says, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; For b...

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Author

Juvenal

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Today there's more fellowship among snakes than among mankind. Wild beasts spare those with similar markings. (for contrast).

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Adapted from Ezekiel 34:11-16

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Ezekiel 34:11-16

Leader: For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. People: As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered...

liturgy

Adapted from Colossians 2:3; Revelation 5:12

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Scripture

Colossians 2:3, Revelation 5:12

The Lord Jesus who calls us to worship him today is the same Jesus who refused the temptation to worship the evil one. Rather than receive the glorious kingdoms of this world, he endured the shame of ...

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Revelation 5:12-13 "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain

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Scripture

Revelation 5:12-13

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and ...

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Re-Wilding and Restoring Balance to Nature

Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:1, Galatians 5:13, John 8:36

In 1995, the gray wolf was reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park after a seventy-year hiatus. Scientists expected an ecological ripple effect, but the size and scope of the trophic cascade took th...

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An Unfortunate Comparison

Author

James Merritt

Keywords

Scripture

John 10:11, John 10:27-28, Luke 15:4-6, Matthew 9:36, Mark 6:34, Isaiah 53:6, Psalm 23:1-3, 1 Peter 2:25

Jesus doesn’t just use the shepherd metaphor when he refers to himself as the door. Over and over in the Bible, we are compared to sheep. Some people think it’s heartwarming. But I hate to tell you, i...

liturgy

The Lord is our Shepherd. He is aware

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 23:1-3, Isaiah 53:5, John 10:11, Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 2:24, Ephesians 1:7

The Lord is our Shepherd. He is aware of our wanton hearts. He has rooted out our sin and reversed its dire consequences upon His cross. The tree of life has become the cross of Christ. Although we ha...

liturgy

O Lamb of God, you take away the sin of

Author

Irenaeus of Lyons

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 7:17, Ephesians 1:7, 1 John 2:2, Hebrews 9:14, Isaiah 53:7, Revelation 5:12

O Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, look upon us and have mercy on us; you who are yourself both victim and priest, yourself both reward and redeemer. Keep safe from all evils those who...

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